More romantic than double fisting chocolate bars while riding a horse on the beach at sunset, but that's not why you're here.

Tag Archives: life

Hey Brian, This is done. Sincerely stardom hit the 6th. It doesn’t seem right now that the fixtures wereconfused you when you 6 6 is take a lot 5 that 7 minutes 9 at six. When you get the black screen foralright. 3045 seconds and so or 7 done. And then we could use it and then. It doesn’t make sense andoff so gimme a call. Thanks. Bye.

I should probably break this one down and respond accordingly:

Hey Brian, This is done.Thank you. Please place it on my desk or park it in my driveway.

Sincerely stardom hit the 6th.That is bad news. Please keep your horse off the golf course. It is not a polo field.

It doesn’t seem right now that the fixtures were confused you when you 6Indeed. That was a fragile and confusing age for me. Thank you for understanding.

6 is take a lot 5 that 7 minutes 9 at six.Yes, math is hard, but I still expect you to be at work at carry the 2 minus the hour 7 seven.

When you get the black screen for alright.I also prefer that to the blue screen. I’ll pass the compliment on to the rest of the IT staff.

3045 seconds and so or 7 done.Yes, RENT was my favorite musical, too. Wicked is right up there, but there’s something about the way they were just able to freeze time with those number lyrics. Magical.

And then we could use it and then.Just let me know when it’s done and when

It doesn’t make sense and off so gimme a callTo further proliferate, the request has made too the many, therefore, and which is which. Dial giraffe.

I switched my voicemail provider to Google Voice a while back to try the transcription service. I’m never going back. Here’s my most recent voicemail.

Good evening everyone. This is your friendly neighborhood soup kitchen. So I’m calling to tell you thatit’s still raining outside, tomorrow. The buses of the district will be traveling as normal. But due to theexcessive amounts of rain, our drivers. I’ve been informed use extreme caution in the areas. We Are,Flooding is, but any of that busses cannot travel the road safely to pick up your child is normal.Please note that been informed not tourist the safety of all. If you have concerns about your childgetting to school. Please call your child’s respect to the school. And we will speak to you at that pointin time. Have a safe evening. We had a good weekend. Thank you.

This was a very informative message. Up until this point, I had no idea that:

We had a neighborhood soup kitchen

They can predict the weather, presumably with the help of a time machine based on the verb tenses

They provide a bus service

They are philosophers (“We are, Flooding is”)

They don’t like to drive on the roads

My child is normal

The busses pick up children AND tourists

If I call my child’s respect on the phone, the soup kitchen will answer

“Nice job!” “I like what you said.” “That was really entertaining.” “You’re really good at that.” Compliments are great. They can help motivate us as we move toward our goals, but they can also be stumbling blocks if we let them.

Picture a runner who has a goal of running a 4 minute mile. He trains every day, pushing himself a little bit further every time he goes for a run. He consistently wins every race, but that’s not his goal. His goal is the 4 minute mile. After one particularly great race, in which he sets a personal best of 4:10, and the fans go crazy: “That was amazing!” His coach adds “Best running I’ve ever seen.” Even his parents chime in: “We’re so proud of you! Way to go!” At this point, the runner can react in two ways:

I did it.ORI’m doing it.

It’s especially easy for people engaged in creative pursuits to settle for the “I did it” when we receive compliments. Even in writing this little blog, I’m tempted to relax and take my eyes of the goal when people tell me “I like your blog,” or “That post described exactly how I feel, too,” or “You’re a great writer.” Picture me with hands behind my head, elbows out, leaning back in a leather executive chair with a stupid-wide grin plastered on my face. (Deep sigh) . . . “Yep, I’ve arrived. My complimenters speak the truth.”

But we must press on, or the little milestones mean nothing. The Sirens’ complimentary song is beautiful and tempting, providing temporary comfort, but it is death to our goals. Instead, we must take the compliments in stride, and keep at it until we’ve reached our destination. And once we’ve done so, then we must set new goals or risk stagnation.

How about you? What do you do with compliments? Are you able to use them to motivate you toward your goals, or have they become a stumbling block to you?

I’m choosing to push through my tendency to be overwhelmed by big things. I’m choosing to take baby steps. Today, I read an article on making SEO improvements on my WordPress blog. I collected 10 more jokes to add to my list of 50 for an exercise from a comedy writing book. It’s taken me over a week to make that list, but I didn’t let that discourage me. I just proceeded with the task in small bites until it was done. And right now, I’m keeping a promise to myself to post at least one blog entry a day this week, and I’m doing it with only 40 minutes left in the day. These daily little tasks are keeping me focused. I’m less and less overwhelmed every time I take just five minutes to work toward my goal of transitioning into a new career.

So what steps have you taken today? What little things have you done to work toward whatever big goal that looms overhead? Do something. Anything. Is your house a disaster and you can’t see a way out of it? Go put 10 things away. Is there a project at work that terrifies you? Dive in, take a break, then dive in again. Need to talk to your teenager, but you’re scared about how they’ll react? Talk with them about something they love first, then slowly work your way into the deeper stuff. You don’t have to have everything figured out before you take action. Stop making excuses to yourself and act.

One night last week, I flossed my teeth. And that’s when I knew that things were about to change. Stick with me, it’ll make sense in a bit.

We all understand about valleys and mountains in life. Some of us are better at managing our time in the valleys, while others might need reminders that the valley isn’t permanent, and that there are roads that lead to higher ground. For the last year or two, I’ve been in a bit of a valley. I’ve known all my life that I’m capable of greatness, but I’ve struggled with the execution, the discipline, the hard work needed to rise up and do something truly great. I’m most comfortable in the valley, where there’s less chance for failure, and where falling down doesn’t hurt as much, as I’m already pretty close to the ground. That’s not to say I haven’t had some success, and achieved some level of greatness in many areas in my life. It’s just that many (maybe most?) of these successes have come fairly easily to me. I don’t know when it happened, but at some point, I stopped working hard, stopped pursuing excellence, and settled for the mediocre. It’s a comfortable, yet miserable existence. I was made for better than this, and I know it.

So, I’m in this valley. I feel stuck. I’m 40 as of October 2012, and my résumé seems to indicate that I’m a fairly competent Information Technology professional, though I have no real passion for it. I’m thankful to be working and providing for my family, but there are many other things I’d rather being doing as a career. I sort of fell into this track back in the late 90’s, and really enjoyed it for the first several years. I learned what made computers tick, solved difficult technical problems, and impressed others with my knowledge. Then, at some point, the honeymoon was over, and I realized that I wanted out. I wanted a career that made more use of the creative side of my brain before it atrophied. BUT, I was the sole bread-winner in a family of six, and I didn’t want my wife or kids to worry about food or shelter while I “found myself,” so I stuck it out, tried to make the best of it. I stayed in the same position at a small liberal arts college in rural Southern Illinois for over 10 years. I really liked the people there, but grew less and less fond of the work I was doing.

Finally, I decided to take a risk and started looking for a new position in St. Louis (an hour commute each way). Although I’d resigned myself to continuing on in a technical role, I thought that perhaps a change of scenery would help me. Of course, it didn’t. I mean, there were certainly bright spots, like getting to work in the marketing office for an upstart toy company, sharing offices and other resources with Build-A-Bear. There, I had some great opportunities to exercise the creative side of my brain from time to time: regular brainstorming sessions, occasional creative writing projects, sitting in on design walk-throughs for virtual world game development, but I was still in a largely technical role. I worked in two other roles in St. Louis before returning to work for a local company in town as an IT Manager.

This valley is made up of more than just career woes. I start things and don’t finish them. I had an amazing opportunity to do some writing for a travel website this summer. I wrote a couple of articles, and had 2-3 more assignments to go before I just stopped. I got scared of failure or something, and just stopped responding to the editor. I leave projects untouched all over our house. Simple stuff, like changing out a light fixture in the bathroom to slightly bigger projects like leaving a hallway half painted for two years. I get overwhelmed, and rather than do just a little something to attack a problem, I give in to fear or apathy, and find the path of least resistance.

Back to flossing. I was standing in front of the mirror, evaluating myself. What had I become? Would I always be like this? Was escape from the mundane even possible for me? Did I deserve to ask such questions? Shouldn’t I just be content with what I have and stop complaining? I mean, there are plenty of people around me who are struggling to find ANY kind gainful employment, and I’m whining about some perceived lack of pleasure for eight hours of my blessed life. I concluded that I could at least try to change direction. I could chose to work hard. I could take baby steps. I could stop giving up and conceding. I could begin to crawl out of this valley of OH MY GOSH IT’S PROBABLY BEEN A YEAR SINCE I FLOSSED MY TEETH WHAT’S WRONG WITH YOU BRIAN!!!

So, I flossed. It was something. It was a small step, yes, but I felt like Neville Longbottom flying through the air and slashing the head off Voldemort’s snake. Plaque and apathy be damned, I’m climbing back up out of this stupid valley.